Shooting of 51 Buffalo Marks Range War

The fallout from a Texan's shooting of 51 buffalo that strayed from his neighbor's hunting ranch is sparking a modern day range war, and highlights a cultural chasm in America's wide open spaces. A working stiff foreman shot the buffalo after they escaped through a washed out section of fence from their al fresco quarters on a 20,000-acre ranch owned by a Dallas oilman. The foreman has been charged with criminal mischief, but it may have been legal for him to shoot the animals. The clash underlines tensions between old timers and millionaires scooping up land.

The rich newbies need to "learn to neighbor" in a land of rugged individualists who'll forgive property-line transgressions, but only to a point, said one resident. The real question, notes the foreman's lawyer, is not "'Why did Mr. Hill shoot 51 buffalo?' It's: 'Why did a landowner bring 200 head of wild animal onto his property and not fence them in correctly?'" The buffalos' owner is outraged at the slaughter and loss of value for the animals he charges hunters $3,500 to shoot, notes NPR.
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